''Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent'' is an adventure/puzzle game by Creator/TelltaleGames, in collaboration with Graham Annable. It is the first game to come out of Telltale's pilot project and is based on Graham's [[http://www.youtube.com/user/Grickle Grickle series of short Flash cartoons]] and books. It was released on June 30, 2010.

Agent Nelson Tethers (voiced by Doug Boyd) is the only employee in the FBI's ignored Puzzle Research Division. At the start of the game, he is given his first field assignment in years: The factory that produces the erasers used by the White House has mysteriously stopped production and any attempt to contact them have been replied with puzzles. Tethers is sent to the small town of Scoggins, Minnesota, the location of the factory, to investigate what happened. When he arrives, he finds that the townsfolk are quite obsessed with puzzles. He also discovers that the factory is sealed with a strange lock and that there was some sort of "accident" involving an explosion in the factory. The factory's foreman, Isaac Davner, has also disappeared after the accident. During the course of the investigation, Tethers encounters strange red gnome-like creatures who hinder his progress. Who or what are these strange creatures? Why are they doing all this? And why are some of the townsfolk acting so suspicious?

A sequel, ''Puzzle Agent 2'', was released exactly one year later on June 30, 2011. Though the case is officially closed with the eraser factory back up and running, Isaac Davner is still missing and there are still a lot of unanswered questions. Nelson decides to take some vacation time and head back to Scoggins to get to the bottom of things, only to find that the mysteries go much deeper than anyone had thought...

----!!''Nelson Tethers: Puzzle Agent'' gives examples of:* AlliterativeName: About half of the puzzle titles are alliterative.* AlmostDeadGuy: [[spoiler:Nelson finds a suspect frozen solid while trying to solve a puzzle in the woods. After Nelson solves the puzzle, the frozen man gives him a gear and dies.]]* BadassBookworm: Nelson does some surprisingly athletic stuff for a guy who spends most of his time in an office, chewing gum and solving crosswords. [[spoiler: His feats include breaking out of a sinking shack on an ice pond, blowing up an impassable garbage heap with a furnace, staring down an angry sheriff, and shooting three gnomes in the head with his eyes closed. Unfortunately, that last one leads to a BulletCatch.]]* BewareTheNiceOnes:[[spoiler: Almost everyone in Scoggins, but especially Glori.]]** [[spoiler: Subverted in the sequel. They are all asking Nelson for help this time, and Glori explains that she did what she did so the Brotherhood could help her husband.]]* BulletCatch: [[spoiler:At the end of the first game, when you finally get to the foreman, the Hidden People catch Nelson's shots ''with their teeth''.]]* BystanderSyndrome: In the first game. [[spoiler:"Any missing persons can be handled by the local authorities."]]* CassetteCraze: Nelson does this. He has a tendency to [[IsThisThingStillOn ramble on without remembering to turn it off.]]* CatScare* ConspiracyTheorist: Nelson becomes one over the course of the second game. His ally Korka dismisses his talk of the Hidden People and astronauts as crazy [[spoiler:because she believes in an entirely different conspiracy involving Bigfoot.]]** [[spoiler:BrickJoke / TheCuckoolanderWasRight: Bigfoot gives you a hand in destroying the lunacy ray.]]* CorruptHick: [[spoiler: Sheriff Bagh]]* TheCuckoolanderWasRight: [[spoiler:Korka is obsessed with the conspiracy theory involving a [[HalfHumanHybrid human/Bigfoot hybrid]], only for one to show up at the end of the second game and help you destroy the lunacy ray]].* DeconstructiveParody: This game is basically ''ProfessorLayton'', but with the main character noticing the stupid amount of puzzles in-game and a much more serious reason why: [[spoiler: most of the town is in some sort of cult that worship gnomes. The gnomes' main method of communication is puzzles. This has caused the entire town to become pathologically addicted to puzzles.]]* DefectiveDetective: Although Nelson is shown to be a good detective, you can see that he'd rather be back in his basement office. This may be because he hasn't had a field mission in -- as he states -- "quite some time" (which mean he probably hasn't been on the field for a couple of YEARS) -- and that his specialty is puzzle solving. Not to mention all the creepy stuff going on in Scoggins.-->"I like my office. It's warm in my office. It's quiet in my office. [[CrowningMomentOfFunny There are no]] [[spoiler:[[CrowningMomentOfFunny maniacal gnomes]]]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny or]] [[spoiler: [[CrowningMomentOfFunny chainsaw-wielding waitresses]]]] [[CrowningMomentOfFunny in my office!]]"* DoesThisRemindYouOfAnything: Nelson likes chewing gum. [[FunctionalAddict It helps him think]]. And when he learns that there's no way he'll be able to buy any in Scoggins, he almost has a panic attack until he starts collecting [[{{Squick}} used pieces of gum]] that have been left on the walls, floors, and furnishings of Scoggins.** This is probably also a reference to ''SherlockHolmes''.** There's some RealLife evidence that chewing gum does help you concentrate, although none of the researchers have yet to comment on chewing ''used'' gum.* DownerEnding: [[spoiler:Sadly, you don't get to rescue the foreman, and the government won't let you. Why? Because "Any missing persons can be handled by local law enforcement." Apparently, he doesn't know anything about the sheriff...]]* DreamingOfThingsToCome: Nelson somehow gets dreams about meeting up with an astronaut in both games.** Supposedly, it's the [[spoiler:Hidden People sending him a message]].* ExactWords: In the sequel, "Issac Davner Does Not Exist." [[spoiler: Because his real name is Ed Davis.]]* [[spoiler: TheFairFolk: The Gnomes AKA the Hidden People.]]* FollowTheLeader: It really is very similar to ''ProfessorLayton''....* Foreshadowing: [[spoiler: The Scoggins sign has a full moon on it.]]* FreezeFrameBonus: The J. Edgar Hoover Building's directory at the beginning has a LongList of departments before it ends at Puzzle Investigation. Examples include Plush Agent Knittery, [[VideoGame/SamAndMaxFreelancePolice Maimtron Factory, Lagomorphology]], Department of Cheeses, Housewares, "Personal" Affairs, [[Literature/{{Discworld}} Department of Wizardry, Department of Seamstresses]], [[VideoGame/WorldOfWarcraft Moonfire Spam]], [[WesternAnimation/WallaceAndGromit Cracking Toast]], Bubbleopolis, Vampire Military, Department of Lists... * GettingCrapPastTheRadar: Martha Garrett's exclamation about never meeting a man who's resisted 'Hot Dish'....* GoLookAtTheDistraction: A bad guy about to shoot you? Throw a crossword puzzle to the side, and he instantly jumps towards it.* GoMadFromTheRevelation: [[spoiler: The apparent fate of everyone who the gnomes speak to.]]** [[spoiler: It's because they need help destroying the Lunar Ray that's repelling them from their home.]]* GuideDarnIt: One puzzle shows a couple of coins without showing their values - it's very easy to solve if you're an American, impossible if you're not.* InterfaceScrew: [[spoiler:A few times throughout the first game, the Hidden People will appear (along with a ScareChord and a few close-up frames) and take a piece of your current puzzle. In the second game, a puzzle gets interrupted by TheMenInBlack.]]* IsThisThingStillOn: Tethers records all his observations into a dictaphone he carries with him. That's ALL his observations.** [[spoiler: That actually becomes [[ChekhovsGun VERY VERY important in the second game.]] He sent all of his tapes to Jim in the Vegetable Division -- whom Nelson asked to file them while away -- and Jim notes that the tape kept playing around the time he saw a Hidden Person communicate with Bo.]]* LampshadeHanging:-->'''Sherrif Bahg:''' Oh, and Tethers? Put my furniture back and fix my door on your way out.* LockAndKeyPuzzle: Unique variation. Most of the first game is spent acquiring three gears that you need to open the factory's puzzle lock. They break apart to form one large jigsaw-puzzle gear that you must snap into place.* {{Lunacy}}: Involved in the second game's plot.** MoonLogicPuzzle: [[ObligatoryJoke Sorry, the joke just had to be made.]]* MundaneMadeAwesome: The reason why Nelson is in Scoggins in the first place. He needs to solve this town's problem or the president won't have his erasers!** Lampshaded at the end when a senior agent notes that the Prez probably wasn't even aware there was a problem.** Submitting a puzzle via mail costs about $ 75,642.98 taxpayers dollars. * NiceJobBreakingItHero: Hooray! You've made it to the factory and found the foreman! [[spoiler:Thanks for helping the Hidden People get to him by solving all the puzzles and clearing the blocks and gaps in the walkway.]]** It's actually subverted. [[spoiler: On the hydraulics puzzle, one of the button falls and a Hidden Person tosses it back to him. They did take the foreman but that was because they needed Nelson's help.]]** In the sequel, Nelson's tapes that he keeps sending to FBI to be filed (even though he's on "vacation") result in [[spoiler:TheMenInBlack swarming the town]]. Apparently, holding on to the tapes and sending them all later doesn't occur to Nelson at all.* NoSenseOfDirection: Nelson can't find the hotel at which he's supposed to stay in Scoggins. After solving a puzzle to lead Nelson to the hotel, he ends up where he was before he started the puzzle. Turns out he was there the whole time.** Apparently, his sense of direction is improved in the sequel, where he can easily retrace his steps after solving a puzzle, despite running away the last time he was there.* OffscreenTeleportation: Somehow, two hulking [[spoiler:astronauts in spacesuits]] can appear behind Nelson without him noticing them walk in the snow. Repeated by [[spoiler:Isaac Davner]] and [[spoiler:a Bigfoot]] (although the latter can be justified by Nelson being delirious at the time, oblivious to his surroundings).* OnlySaneMan: Nelson Tethers in the first game. Less so in the sequel.** In the first game, Tethers sees Martha Garrett as one of the more rational people in town, but she does have a few puzzles that need solved.** In the second game, Korka seems pretty well adjusted too. [[spoiler:Then she turns out to be a conspiracy nut who believes in the Bigfoot... who then turns out to be real]].* OohMeAccentsSlipping: Korka's accent is mostly Russian, but her voice actor slips up every now and then.** The Accent is Icelandic, not Russian. If you look at the name of the voice actress it is an Icelandic name.* OurGnomesAreWeirder: The Hidden People. Especially since they're creepy as hell and [[spoiler:some kind of lunar spirits.]]* PointOfNoReturn: In the first game, when you assemble the third gear. However, any optional puzzles you missed may be performed after the credits.* PowerUpFood: Chewing gum is used to give Nelson hints on puzzles. Apparently he gains hypercognitive insight from chewing gum.* ReassignedToAntarctica: [[spoiler:Jim Ingraham from the Vegetable Division at the end of the second game, for helping Nelson]].* ScareChord: [[spoiler: When the hidden people first show up in one of your puzzles, it can be quite scary.]]* ScreamsLikeALittleGirl: Nelson.* SequelHook: [[spoiler:At the end of the second game, Nelson gets a postcard from Issac and Glori from the Bermudas. Nelson asks, "What could possibly go wrong in Bermuda?"]]** The postcard also shows [[spoiler:Principle Skeleton from the Grickle cartoons lurking in the background]].* ShoutOut: One of the puzzles in the sequel is named [[Film/{{Ghostbusters}} Cross the Streams]].** Director Jennings in the sequel mentions that the local diner in this secluded, northern forest town serves some ''[[TwinPeaks damn]]'' [[TwinPeaks fine]] milkshakes.* SevenMinuteLull: Played with: When Nelson is explaining his findings to Director Jennings -- who is drinking the milkshakes and therefore cannot hear most of what Nelson is saying--Nelson eventually screams, "THE ASTRONAUTS IN THE FOREST ARE MURDERING PEOPLE!" after everything had gone silent.* ThemeTwinNaming: Spoofed: There are twin brothers named Daryl and Darrel: Nelson's job is to find Darrel in the sequel.* TheUnreveal: Every time there's the dream with the astronaut, it cuts to Nelson waking up and the players never seeing behind the visor.* VideoGameCrueltyPotential: Somewhat. If you mess up in puzzles, you'll cost U.S. taxpayers more and more money for each subsequent failure. Mess up a lot and you can make a single puzzle cost more than a million dollars!* WhatHappenedToTheMouse: Nelson never actually finds any of the missing people in the second game and forgets about them after finding [[spoiler:Isaac Davner]]. Perhaps his statement that [[spoiler:the astronauts are murdering people]] is actually true.** He does find the items belonging to a skier he sees several times in Scoggins.* XMeetsY: The game is pretty much ''ProfessorLayton'' meets ''{{Fargo}}'' and ''TwinPeaks''.* YouHaveToBelieveMe: Nelson, several times in the sequel.----